In the wake of reaching over 5 million tickets sold to Immersive Van Gogh across North America and the opening of Immersive Frida Kahlo to tremendous acclaim in eight cities, Lighthouse Immersive and Maestro Immersive Art are shifting their focus to the Impressionist Movement of the late 19th century with Immersive Monet & The Impressionists: a tantalizing exploration of the radical artists that shook up the art world in an attempt to capture both the transient nature of beauty, and the timeless beauty of nature. Tickets, which begin at $29.99, are on sale now at immersivemonet.com for viewings at Lighthouse ArtSpace Chicago (108 W. Germania Pl.) from June 17 through Sept. 25, 2022.
State-of-the-art video mapping and ground-breaking animation bring the art of the Impressionists to life like never before in what is slated to be the largest immersive art experience in the country. 500,000 cubic feet of projections composed of over 1.2 million frames of video bring the piece together, bathing viewers in the brushstrokes and colors of Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt and many more. In addition to Impressionism, the program also features other artists who birthed movements that nudged the art world into the 20th century, including the robust marine paintings of J.M.W. Turner and the Post-Impressionist works of Toulouse-Lautrec.
Immersive Monet and the Impressionists - Photo credit Patrick Hodgon
“Claude Monet and his peers are inspirational figures in art history and natural choices for an immersive experience,” said Corey Ross, producer of Immersive Monet & The Impressionists and founder of Lighthouse Immersive. “The spontaneity of Impressionism is expressed in movement and color, two mediums that our state-of-the-art projection systems present quite well! Projection mapping and immersive experiences are shaking up the art world much like Monet and his contemporaries did with their groundbreaking Impressionism. We are eager to bring their vibrant colors and magnificent beauty to many of our Lighthouse ArtSpace venues.”
“While our previous immersive experiences have focused on the lives and work of individual artists, this piece focuses more on an era of change in art history that paved the way for modern art,” said Svetlana Dvoretsky, producer of Immersive Monet & the Impressionists. “The late 19th century was a tumultuous and exciting time for art as new ideas and methods circulated outside of traditionalist institutions. That excitement is captured wholly in this outstanding new work by our Italian creative team.”
"We cannot thank Chicago enough for their enthusiasm towards our immersive offerings. Lighthouse Immersive had its U.S. debut in Chicago with Immersive Van Gogh in February 2021, and Immersive Van Gogh continues its run today,” said Irina Shabshis, co-founder of Maestro Immersive Art. “As a projection series, Immersive Monet & the Impressionists is the perfect extension of our original immersive programming. Monet and friends’ distinct styles are recognized globally, but this experience meets our goals of always expanding our attendees’ horizons in the realm of art."
Immersive Monet & The Impressionists was designed by Lighthouse Immersive’s acclaimed Italian creative team, headed by Creator Massimiliano Siccardi, with mood-setting music, both original and curated, by multimedia Composer Luca Longobardi, who provided a score that takes viewers on a dreamlike journey between the classics of impressionist music and an original contemporary cinematic score. Vittorio Guidotti is the Art Director.
David Korins, the Emmy award-winning designer of Broadway hits including Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen and the set designer for the 2022 Oscars, will be introducing design elements to Lighthouse ArtSpace venues to enhance the viewing experience and provide some interactivity to lobby spaces.
Impressionism found its origins in 1874 when the "Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc." hosted an exhibition in Paris independent of the Salon de Paris: a yearly exhibition in which a jury of artists from the Académie des Beaux-Arts selected the finest works and awarded medals. The Anonymous Society was founded by Claude Monet along with Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro, among others, as a rejection of the traditional norms strongly enforced by the Salon since the 17th century. “Impressionist” was originally a derogatory term used to ridicule impressionists for the rushed, unfinished look of their paintings, but they came to wear the label with pride.
The Impressionists sought to capture the elusive properties of light through painting, closely examining how different lighting can drastically change an image. They also often depicted themes of modernity, in stark contrast to the historical and mythological paintings that were favored by academic convention at the time. Impressionist painters preferred to go out into nature to paint, a new method that went against the traditional practice of sketching and painting in a stuffy studio. A fleeting movement, the Impressionists all went on to pursue their own unique styles by the late 1880s. Despite its brief moment in the spotlight, however, Impressionism spurred an artistic revolution.
Tickets for Immersive Monet & The Impressionists are on sale now at immersivemonet.com. You can sign up to receive more information here.
About the Creative Team
MASSIMILIANO SICCARDI, Artistic Creator:
Massimiliano studied at the London School of Contemporary Dance of London. But in 1990, he left the world of dance to begin a new journey in the world of video art. Massimiliano quickly became the artistic force behind several visual mise-en-scène for choreographers around the world. He also created video scenographies for numerous prestigious festivals and galas around the world. He also re-constructed the video mapping of the Basilica di Giotto and for the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari, where one of his permanent installation’s virtually reconstruct the frescoes of the Cupola. Massimiliano is also a celebrated photographer and has had photo exhibitions in Spoleto and Rome, to name a few. He is professor of digital image elaboration at the Accademia di Comunicazione e Immagine of Rome. In 2012 Massimiliano received the prestigious International Award “Romaindanza” for his talent in the visual work of dance theatre. Since 2012, he has been artist in residence at the Carrières de Lumières - Atelier des Lumières where he authored the mise-en-scène of numerous immersive shows. He is currently creating projects within Italy as well as New York, Berlin, Leipzig and Rome.
LUCA LONGOBARDI, Composer:
Italian composer and pianist Luca Longobardi is a classically trained musician who incorporates the contemporary electronic music into his pieces. Born in 1976, Longobardi studied classical music in Italy and New York and went on to earn his doctorate in digital audio restoration in Rome in 2011. His works reveal a strong interaction between classical and contemporary music. The experience he has gained as a theatre musician has increased his interest in the relationship between sounds and spectacle; he has composed music for ballets and films and accompanied installations and experimental art productions (Atelier de Lumières - Paris, Carrière des Lumières - Baux-de-Provence, Kunstkraftwerk - Leipzig). At his multimedia performances and in his recordings, strong experimental electronic music meets pure, ethereal and simple-seeming piano playing that nevertheless relays deep emotions.
DAVID KORINS, Global Creative Director:
David Korins is the award-winning creative director, designer and founder of his eponymous New York City-based creative studio. In his two decades of creating omnidirectional experiences, he has reached hundreds of millions of people all over the world while helping the most influential brands, companies and individuals bring their stories to life. From stage to screen, museums to hospitality, experiential design to singular live events, Korins has traversed the landscape of world building and storytelling through almost every medium available.
Korins’ work has earned him an Emmy Award, three Tony nominations, Drama Desk, Lortel Awards, three Henry Hewes Design Awards and an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Design.
About Lighthouse Immersive
Lighthouse Immersive creates, produces and distributes innovative digital immersive art experiences through its experiential entertainment multiplex digital art galleries, aiming to cultivate community and creativity through large-scale events and exhibitions of all art forms. Lighthouse Immersive offers versatile spaces for creators to present their work while engaging audiences in unique art experiences that encourage dialogue and inspire new artistic creations. Lighthouse Immersive has produced the world premiere of Immersive Van Gogh, Immersive Frida Kahlo and Immersive Klimt: Revolution to more than 21 North American cities. Recognized as the leader in immersive art experiences, Lighthouse Immersive custom-designs each of their venues, named Lighthouse ArtSpace, to distinctly envelop the various architectural settings they inhabit, it operates galleries in a range of historic venues including refurbished industrial and retail spaces.
Since 2021, the company has opened or is opening 21 new galleries in North American cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Boston and Denver, and is currently expanding into additional markets. To date, Lighthouse Immersive has sold over 5 million tickets to Immersive Van Gogh across North AArt
Maria Shclover and Irina Shabshis are the co-founders of Maestro Immersive Art. Shclover founded Maestro Artist Management in 2004, Shabshis in 2005 and together they have presented more than 1,000 theatrical and classical music performances across the United States, including projects with Michel Legrand, Mikhail Baryshnikmerica, with Artnet calling it “one of the largest coordinated art phenomena of all time.”
About Maestro Immersiveov, John Malkovich and more. In 2012, Shclover and Shabshis formed a non-profit organization, Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation, presenting an annual international theatrical festival to audiences in New York City and beyond.